The Cake Walk Continues....

It is no secret that my son loves to play baseball.  He also happens to love the New York Mets.  (Maybe they will win some games this year...*is that a cricket I hear?*   Last year for my son's birthday I attempted my first ever frozen butter cream transfer.  This process involves printing out your image (backwards).  Sounds wierd, I know but this is very important, especially if your image involves words or lettering!!  I must say I do not have photos of this process but the end result was nice and my son LOVED it!

 1. Print out your image (backwards)

2. Tape image onto a board

3. tape a piece of parchment paper securely on top

4. Trace out your image with icing, paying attention to not only the colours you want but also to which details will need to be in the front of the image.  For instance, in this Mets logo, I had to make sure the white bridge was piped before all of the blue in the background.

5.  Freeze your finished piece until it is frozen solid.

6.  Prepare your cake as desired, crumb coat, and ice.

7. Remove your frozen buttercream from the freezer, peel it off the parchment and place on the top of your cake!

8.  The icing will thaw and be ready to cut in no time!

The next time I try this technique, I will pay closer attention to the thickness of the icings.  For the backgrounds I will want to thin the icing out somewhat so it will blend in and I won't have the lines visible.  Perhaps I will also try an easier image!  This was another fun one!

Is It Really Just a Cake Walk? Cake week continues...finally!

   

I know I promised some more cakes this week and I am here to make true on that promise!  I do enjoy baking and sometimes I like to create a bit more of a challenge for myself.  Generally when I like to think about the cake and the design first.  I will draw up some plans or designs so I have somewhat of a template to follow like I did here for a friend's wedding.  I make tracers if I am cutting shapes or letters out of fondant so I can keep things looking similar.


These plans for a sunflower cake. I made the tracers so my petals would be the same size.

I have made some drastic mistakes in my cake trials.  For instance, fondant and ganache just don't seem to mix and you may wind up re-covering a cake when in melts and slides off the cake!

 This one didn't take too long to fix. It was my first major cake attempt.  The end result looked much neater and prettier than the original but let me tell you, I was soooo glad I brought everything from extra icing to all the fondant I had in the colours I though I might need!

Here is the original cake, before the disaster!

And here is the cake re done with white fondant. I think I recovered very well from this one!

 This cake was actually a surprise cake for our friend's wedding in August 2009.  I was asked to make the cupcakes and wanted to have a go at a cake.  The cupcakes were fun to design and to make.  I tested recipes and designs until I found one that we liked (by we I mean the bride!)


In keeping with the bride's love of sunflowers, we went with a sunflower theme for the cupcakes.  I used the pumpkin spice cupcake recipe for these cupcakes.

I do have a confession to make here...I did not make the adorable gumpaste sunflowers...*gasp*!!!  I ordered them from the lovely people at Jeff the chef!  They were well done, well shipped, and well worth it!



The other cupcakes I made for this occasion were devils food cake chocolate.  (Drool)  These ones were dipped in ganache, then had yellow petals piped around the edge.

This really was my first major cupcake/cake attempt and I really did enjoy it!!  I know my co workers and friends greatly enjoyed the tasting that went along with my many trials!  Stay tuned for my next cake post!

Birthdays mean Birthday Cake!!!

Birthday season is officially upon us in our house.  This season really starts back in September and continues on until the end of January...one birthday after another.  Birthdays mean birthday cake.  Birthday cake means I like to bake and pretend I am an employee at one of those bakeries you see on TV who put out those fabulous cakes in wonderful designs and shapes....I do try hard but more importantly, I have fun!  I do have some cake recipes that I will share, but if I put them all in one post....I just may run out of ideas!!  I am also excited about sharing some of my other cakes with you...I just have to find them on the hard drive.  It appears that Cake Week has started in the Little Kitchen!

Today I made a vanilla cherry cake.  I baked it in a Wilton ball pan so I could make my first try at making a baseball cake for my boys.  I am fairly happy with the outcome.  It is afterall, my first cake of this shape.

 Original recipe

Cherry Vanilla Cake

Preheat oven to 350

Butter and flour the pan(s) of your choice.

In a bowl, combine:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Measure out and set aside:

•  1 ½ cups buttermilk

Drain, chop finely, and set aside:

•   1 375 ml jar maraschino cherries

In the bowl of your stand mixer cream together:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Add and continue to beat:

• 4 eggs at room temperature (one at a time)
• 4 tsp vanilla 
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped (I wanted to add as much vanilla flavour as I could so I decided to give it a try!)

Alternate additions of ½ of the flour with ½ of the buttermilk This way you start and end with adding the flour mixture.  Mix until just combined to avoid a tough cake.

Stir in the chopped and drained maraschino cherries.

When filling your pans, make sure to stop at no more than ¾ full.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.  This time varies greatly because it does depend on the size(s) of pans you have used.

Remove pans to a rack, cool for 15 minutes, then remove cake from pans to cool completely before icing.

Allow the cakes to cool completely before icing them.

Decorator's icing - original recipe here

• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 8 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp clear vanilla extract (the only time to use the fake stuff)
• 1 tsp clear butter flavouring
• approximately 1/2 cup water (depends on desired consistency)
  

Start by mixing the icing sugar and the shortening with an electric mixer or stand mixer.

Add the flavourings and the water.  Mix until smooth, adjusting amount of water or icing sugar until the icing reaches a spreadable consistency.

Before you attach the 2 cakes, you will need to trim the tops to make 2 flat surfaces that will face each other evenly.  (I failed to take picturs of this process....my apologies)


Get your base ready (if you are just making the ball, trim one end so it is flat and the ball will sit without rolling away).

Apply a crumb coat to the entire cake.  (A crumb coat is a thin layer of icing that will help keep crumbs on the cake and not on the surface of your finished cake)

For this cake I cut a hole in the top layer so the ball would have a place to nest in.  I still used a wooden dowel through the centre of the ball to help keep it on the cake and to help keep the ball together...consider it my insurance)


 

Let the crumb coat settle and get crusty.  You don't want your top layer of icing or fondant (if using) to mix in.  The crumb coat is meant to be a separate layer.

Colour some of the icing your desired colour.  Prepare and fill your icing bags. (We can cover this process in another post)

Warm Me Up Hot Chocolate

It has been snowing now for over 24 hours....without stopping.  The driving is crazy, the walking is difficult, and the shoveling goes on forever.  Thankfully I have a wonderful near 15 year old to help (by help I mean he does it all) the shoveling.  I did take pity on him for a while and helped shovel the front steps and beside the house.  When one is done shoveling, they need a treat. I called it quits early and went in to make hot chocolate.  It just helps to warm one up when you come inside with the cuffs of your pants covered in snow and frozen solid, your glasses are fogged up and your toque is damp from the constant barage of snow!

This is a recipe I have tinkered with over many winters of snow, ice, and shoveling!!

Warm me up Hot Chocolate

In a large measuring cup mix together:

• 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
• 1/2 cup milk (you can use all 1/2 and 1/2, or cream...but I felt the need to lighten it up a little with some skim milk.  As long as you have 1 1/2 of dairy)

In a sauce pan or pot mix together:

• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Mix this until nice and smooth.  It helps make sure there are no unsightly lumps of cocoa powder in your mug!

Stir and heat the cocoa mixture until it is boiling.

Boil for about a minute, stirring.

Reduce the heat and add the milk.   Heat the milk mixture until it is warm throughout.  Remove from the heat and add:

• 1 tsp vanilla and stir to combine

Pour into 2 mugs, add the toppings of your choice and enjoy with the toppings of your choice.  Some tasty suggestions:

• marshmallows
• whipped cream
• cinnamon
• Irish cream
• Peppermint schnapps

Serve to your favourite snow shoveler!

My favourite shoveler, snow topped, glasses fogging, red cheeks

!

A Tale of Horror from The Kitchen....

Before reading, please take caution, this is a tale of woe, horror, and dissappointment....you have been warned.  There are no pictures to share tonight, just this tale...

See?  Where did the end of the street go?

It was a dark and stormy afternoon......The snow is not just gently cascading down, it is coming down hard and I am walking staight into the wind.  Snow is clinging to my glasses and making it even more difficult to see.  I can't even see the end of the block it is snowing so hard. I just want to get home and warm up! Thoughts going through my head are, of course, what to make for dinner.  What would soothe the soul and warm the body....soup would be perfect!  Thinking of what I have in the pantry and in the freezer, I decide that a potato chowder would hit the spot!   Lets see, I have potatoes, some bacon (of course), homemade stock in the freezer downstairs....yes, yes...plans are coming together nicely.

Once home, I start rustling through the fridge to gather my ingredients in preparation for a hearty bowl of soup.  One ingredient inolves a trip to the basement.  I turn on the lights and carefully make my way down the stairs.  As I reach for the freezer door and open it, a scream escapes my lips.....the sight in front of me is too much to bare. Hubby rushes downstairs to see what is causing my distress.  A scream escapes his lips (along with a couple of expletives).....absolutely nothing in the freezer is still frozen!  Containers of spicy chili, luscious stew, and, of course, all of the stock....liquid and mouldy.  It took a moment for the smell to reach us...ew......needless to say we emptied the fridge, wiped it down, unplugged it, and propped the doors open.  It will need to have the doors removed and be hauled away....sigh....there will be no potato chowder tonight.

I couldn't bring myself to take any pictures, beside who wants to see pictures like that on a food blog....not me!  I just wanted to get it cleaned up.

Tonight we say good bye to an old friend: auxillary fridge.  As with many foodies, mothers, fathers, and people who love food, I keep a second fridge in the basement.  Generally this auxillary fridge holds drinks, extra food for entertaining, provides extra space for chilling sheets of cookies and is just plain useful. The freezer attached to this auxillary fridge is generally empty except to lay items flat to freeze before moving them to the chest freezer (also in the basement). Auxillary fridge has served us well. We are sad to see it go.  You see, auxillary fridge is an old fridge and we knew when we moved it downstairs that it wouldn't last forever.   I should have moved my sweet containers of leftovers and stock to the chest freezer, but I didn't and they are gone.....

Thanks for reading my tale of woe....like I mentioned before, I will miss auxillary fridge and will most likely be on the look out for a newer (gently used) fridge as I do love the convenience of having one.